Woodworking company eyes big building tucked away in San Jose tech hub

SAN JOSE — North San Jose is one of the Bay Area’s primary tech hubs, yet amid the digital giants, a building may be repurposed to accommodate blue-collar tasks such as woodworking and cabinetry jobs.

Commercial Casework Inc. is eyeing a building at 150 Nortech Parkway in San Jose for a new industrial operation whose clients, by happenstance, may well include several tech titans.

The project would materialize within an existing building that totals 40,400 square feet. The exterior of the building would remain the same.

Dollinger Properties bought the building in 2023, paying $9.1 million for the site, according to Santa Clara County public real estate records.

Big tech companies such as Google, Cisco, Samsung, Apple, Netgear, Archer Aviation, Align, Xilinx, HPE, and Broadcom have significant operations in north San Jose.

“New woodworking equipment is to be installed on the shop floor,” Commercial Casework states in the proposal that’s on file with San Jose city planners. “A new finish spray booth will be installed on the shop floor.”

The company typically uses equipment such as a table saw, panel saw, sander, and software devices to automate cutting procedures.

“We bring in rough or smooth lumber, then sand and/or cut the lumber to various shapes and sizes,” Commercial Casework stated in a city planning document. “Most of our work is with particle board, medium-density fiberboard, plastic laminate, and veneer. Some products receive a wood finish treatment.”

The woodworking company also intends to build a wall inside the building that will separate the manufacturing floor from several offices.

The building’s primary components include 28,200 square feet of industrial space and 12,200 square feet of offices.

Founded in 1976, Commercial Casework’s early clients consisted primarily of retailers such as jewelry stores and then morphed in the 1980s to woodwork and cabinets for banks as that industry boomed.

In its next transition, the company provided components of office and tenant improvements and served the growing number of corporate sites and tech buildings that dotted a steadily growing number of Bay Area sites in the 1990s and 2000s.

Commercial Casework has locations in Sacramento and Fremont.

“We still specialize in custom, commercial woodwork for premier companies throughout the Bay Area and Greater Sacramento Area, while adapting to the ever-changing needs of our customers in order to provide a higher quality product than anyone else,” Commercial Casework states on its website.